The impact of poverty transitions on frailty among older adults in South Korea: findings from the Korean longitudinal study of ageing

Youn, Hin Moi; Lee, Hyeon Ji; Lee, Doo Woong; Park, Eun-Cheol

doi:10.1186/s12877-020-01522-x

Table 1 General characteristics of the study population (2006 baseline)

From: The impact of poverty transitions on frailty among older adults in South Korea: findings from the Korean longitudinal study of ageing

Variables	Frailty^a
	Male						p value	Female						p value
	Total		Yes		No			Total		Yes		No
	N	%	N	%	N	%		N	%	N	%	N	%
	4115	100.0	388	9.4	3727	90.6		5148	100.0	700	13.6	4448	86.4
Current relative poverty^b							<.0001							<.0001
Non-poverty	2004	48.7	69	3.4	1935	96.6		2254	43.8	155	6.9	2099	93.1
Poverty	2111	51.3	319	15.1	1792	84.9		2894	56.2	545	18.8	2349	81.2
Age							<.0001							<.0001
45–64	2554	62.1	104	4.1	2450	95.9		3177	61.7	167	5.3	3010	94.7
65–74	1125	27.3	154	13.7	971	86.3		1285	25.0	282	21.9	1003	78.1
≥ 75	436	10.6	130	29.8	306	70.2		686	13.3	251	36.6	435	63.4
Marital status							<.0001							<.0001
With spouse	3788	92.1	307	8.1	3481	91.9		3571	69.4	299	8.4	3272	91.6
Without spouse	327	7.9	81	24.8	246	75.2		1577	30.6	401	25.4	1176	74.6
No. of household members							<.0001							<.0001
1	139	3.4	36	25.9	103	74.1		632	12.3	156	24.7	476	75.3
2	1706	41.5	203	11.9	1503	88.1		1820	35.4	240	13.2	1580	86.8
≥ 3	2270	55.2	149	6.6	2121	93.4		2696	52.4	304	11.3	2392	88.7
Educational level							<.0001							<.0001
Elementary school graduate or lower	1260	30.6	252	20.0	1008	80.0		2886	56.1	619	21.4	2267	78.6
Middle/high school graduate	2125	51.6	110	5.2	2015	94.8		1998	38.8	77	3.9	1921	96.1
College graduate or higher	730	17.7	26	3.6	704	96.4		264	5.1	4	1.5	260	98.5
Current economic activity							<.0001							<.0001
Active	2441	59.3	84	3.4	2357	96.6		1298	25.2	90	6.9	1208	93.1
Inactive	1674	40.7	304	18.2	1370	81.8		3850	74.8	610	15.8	3240	84.2
Region							<.0001							0.0014
Metropolitan	1800	43.7	152	8.4	1648	91.6		2353	45.7	310	13.2	2043	86.8
Urban	1390	33.8	113	8.1	1277	91.9		1673	32.5	202	12.1	1471	87.9
Rural	925	22.5	123	13.3	802	86.7		1122	21.8	188	16.8	934	83.2
Health insurance type							<.0001							<.0001
NHI^c	3907	94.9	323	8.3	3584	91.7		4838	94.0	592	12.2	4246	87.8
Medical aid	208	5.1	65	31.3	143	68.8		310	6.0	108	34.8	202	65.2
Household income^d							<.0001							<.0001
Quantile 1 (low)	1695	41.2	265	15.6	1430	84.4		2393	46.5	485	20.3	1908	79.7
Quantile 2	902	21.9	80	8.9	822	91.1		1078	20.9	121	11.2	957	88.8
Quantile 3	551	13.4	19	3.4	532	96.6		599	11.6	39	6.5	560	93.5
Quantile 4	439	10.7	13	3.0	426	97.0		504	9.8	31	6.2	473	93.8
Quantile 5 (high)	528	12.8	11	2.1	517	97.9		574	11.1	24	4.2	550	95.8
Smoking							0.6453							<.0001
No	1593	38.7	146	9.2	1447	90.8		4956	96.3	642	13.0	4314	87.0
Yes	2522	61.3	242	9.6	2280	90.4		192	3.7	58	30.2	134	69.8
Drinking							0.2594							0.0445
No	986	24.0	102	10.3	884	89.7		4035	78.4	569	14.1	3466	85.9
Yes	3129	76.0	286	9.1	,843	90.9		1113	21.6	131	11.8	982	88.2
Perceived health status							<.0001							<.0001
Healthy	680	16.5	14	2.1	666	97.9		565	11.0	12	2.1	553	97.9
Average	1685	40.9	48	2.8	1637	97.2		1669	32.4	86	5.2	1583	94.8
Unhealthy	1750	42.5	326	18.6	1424	81.4		2914	56.6	602	20.7	2312	79.3
Chronic disease^e							<.0001							<.0001
No	2349	57.1	139	5.9	2210	94.1		2598	50.5	213	8.2	2385	91.8
Yes	1766	42.9	249	14.1	1517	85.9		2550	49.5	487	19.1	2063	80.9
Disability							<.0001							<.0001
No	3801	92.4	314	8.3	3487	91.7		4967	96.5	653	13.1	4,14	86.9
Yes	314	7.6	74	23.6	240	76.4		181	3.5	47	26.0	134	74.0
ADL^f							<.0001							<.0001
Independent	4022	97.7	339	8.4	3683	91.6		5011	97.3	635	12.7	4376	87.3
Needs help/difficulty with ADL	93	2.3	49	52.7	44	47.3		137	2.7	65	47.4	72	52.6
IADL^g							<.0001							<.0001
Independent	3546	86.2	269	7.6	3277	92.4		4673	90.8	524	11.2	4149	88.8
Needs help/difficulty with IADL	569	13.8	119	20.9	450	79.1		475	9.2	176	37.1	299	62.9
Cognitive impairment^h							<.0001							<.0001
No	3572	86.8	226	6.3	3346	93.7		3715	72.2	277	7.5	3438	92.5
Yes	543	13.2	162	29.8	381	70.2		1433	27.8	423	29.5	1010	70.5

^a The frailty instrument consists of grip strength, exhaustion, and social isolation (frail ≥2, non-frail ≤1)
^b Relative poverty line: 50% of median household income based on the equivalized household income
^c NHI: National Health Insurance (employee and self-employee insured)
^d Participants’ current equivalized household income level was allocated into quantile groups based on the data from Statistics Korea
^e Chronic diseases include hypertension, diabetes, malignant tumor, liver disease, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, psychiatric disorders, and rheumatoid arthritis disease
^f ADL: Activities of daily living
^g IADL: Instrumental activities of daily living
^h K-MMSE (Korean Mini-Mental State Examination): normal cognitive function (K-MMSE≥24) and mild to severe cognitive impairment (K-MMSE≤23)

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ISSN: 1471-2318

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